The Empire Hotel came under fire on social media following allegations its staff, patrons and manager were involved in the incident and verbally abused the activists.

The Queenstown pub said in a statement on Facebook it had investigated the matter and found “nobody from the Empire staff threw the steak”.

“An identified person who did throw the steak, has no association with the Empire Hotel, Queenstown, and has been dealt with accordingly,” the statement read.

“Naturally it is concerning that a mistaken identity has created extreme stress to our publican and his team (our valued employees).”

The Empire Hotel said the statement was their “final response to the allegations” and didn’t return calls from The Advocate.

Tasmania Police said they were called to the pub about 6pm on Saturday “after a quantity of meat was thrown from a private flat above the Empire Hotel at a small group of people on the street”.

“No complaints were made at the time and no injuries were reported,” the police said.

But police said they had received a complaint about an “alleged trespass at the private flat by a member of the public” from the hotel manager on Monday morning.

“Investigations are continuing … ,” police said.

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The demonstration was based on international vegan outreach campaign Cube of Truth and organised by the Queenstown chapter of animal rights group Anonymous for the Voiceless.

Four people stood in silence, wore Guy Fawkes masks and held screens that played graphic footage of the way animals have been treated in primary industries. 

Others stood nearby to have conversations about animal welfare with those interested.

Queenstown hunter-turned-vegan Emma Dorling organised the demonstration and said it was “really successful before the incident”.

“The meat itself didn’t offend, it was the bullying,” Mrs Dorling said.

Mrs Dorling said she was particularly concerned about the welfare of a nine-year-old who was involved in the demonstration.

“The fact that grown adults can encourage each other to bully is, I feel, not acceptable,” she said.

“Whether someone agrees or disagrees with another person’s point of view is entirely irrelevant. The main concern for me is that people are encouraging other people to bully and humiliate… ”

Mrs Dorling said if anyone under 16 approached the demonstration they’d turn off the graphic footage. She said police approved the demonstration.

Anyone with information can report it to Queenstown police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.